Gripping The Fire
Chapter 3
Mika walked down the stairs staring blankly ahead of her. The only sign of emotion were the way her eyes drooped tiredly. Her makeup was done very simply today, wearing only a black line of eyeliner under each eye. Her long red and brown hair hung messily around her shoulders and slightly covered her face. She carelessly dragged her backpack on the floor behind her. A thud was heard every time it fell down to the next step.
"You're up early," her mother said as Mika walked into the kitchen. She then realized how emotionless and strange Mika was acting. "Mikael? Are you ok?" she asked.
"Fine Mom," she said plainly as she grabbed a piece of toast. "And don't call me that." Her mother raised an eyebrow as she watched her walk out of the kitchen and opened the front door. "I'm gonna walk to school today. Bye." She stepped out and closed the door before she could hear any of her mother's comments.
She stood on the front porch for a second and looked around. It was a nice day out. The sky was a clear blue with a few clouds scattered here and there. It was warm and sunny out. It was a perfect day, but Mika was already not enjoying it. She sighed loudly as she sat down on the first step of the porch and rested her head on her knees. She closed her eyes and sat there for a few minutes, doing and thinking about nothing.
A car suddenly drove up and she could hear that it stopped in front of her house. She slowly opened her eyes and looked up to see an orange 67' Pontiac Firebird parked there. Kyle was sitting in the drivers' seat. Mika raised an eyebrow as she looked at him. 'He's here early...' she thought to herself. He smiled at her and waved for her to go over and get in. She sighed as she got up.
"I think I'm gonna walk to school today. Is that ok?" she asked him opening the passenger door.
"Aw... Why?" he asked disappointed.
"I didn't sleep very good last night and I just... I need to walk for a while and clear my head," she explained.
"Oh... Well..." Kyle paused for a second and then looked closer at her. "Wow. You feeling ok?" he asked her.
"I'm just tired. Why?"
"You're eyes are all red and you like you're getting sick or something..." he told her. Mika looked down and shook her head.
"No... I'm fine. I'm just tired, that's all."
"Why don't you just stay home ok?" he asked her.
"No... I'll be fine," she quickly said.
"What if you are getting sick? I don't want you walking around by yourself and then get sick at school or something."
Mika thought for a second. What Kyle said made sense, but she was determined to get to school. She didn't want to miss any homework or information. She needed to keep her grades up. "No... I need to go to school."
"Then let me drive you there. Please?"
Mika sighed and thought about it for a second. She then dropped her backpack on the floor in front of the seat and slid in. "Thanks Kyle."
"No problem Mika. I just don't want you dying on the side of the road or something."
Mika smiled slightly at him and then looked forward as he pulled away from the house. She looked over at the door mirror and gasped as she saw her appearance. Her hair was messier than when she had last seen it. She quickly started searching her backpack for a rubber band. When she found one, she put her hair up in a messy bun. She sighed with relief as she saw that the messy bun made her appearance look a little better. She then looked closer at herself.
"Oh my gosh... I do look like I'm sick," she said noticing her red eyes and somewhat pale skin.
"Yeah you do. Wanna go back home?" Kyle asked.
"No! I have to go, ok?" Mika quickly said.
"Ok, ok. Calm down. Promise me you'll go home if you start feeling sick though, ok?" Kyle said sternly. Mika nodded. "Ok. I will."
"Promise me."
"Ok. I promise I'll go home if I start feeling sick."
For the rest of the way to school, Mika had her head resting on her hand with her eyes closed. She tried to keep her eyes open but they felt tired and heavy. She then tried to stay awake but she was extremely tired.
She didn't wake up when they pulled into the school parking lot. Kyle looked over at her and smiled. She was sleeping so peacefully. He didn't want to wake her up, especially since she was looking a bit sick.
He sighed as he turned off the car and pulled the keys out. After he slipped his keys into his pocket, he unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned his seat back. He made himself comfortable and then closed his eyes, planning to get a bit more sleep himself.
Fourty-five minutes went by before Mika woke up. Her eyes slowly opened and she lifted her head up when she remembered she was in Kyle's car. Seeing that Kyle was also sleeping, she smiled. She glanced at her watch and froze. School had already started and had been going on for almost half an hour. She opened the car door and stepped out. The sound of the door opening woke Kyle up. Seeing that she was getting out, he set his seat back up and got out too.
"Why did you let me sleep?" Mika asked him.
"You looked really tired and you needed to sleep. And besides, you looked so peaceful and beautiful that I couldn't bring myself to wake you up."
Mika blushed slightly and reached into the car to get her backpack. She looked back at him when she closed the door. "Well thanks for the ride and for letting me sleep longer. I'm gonna go to class now," she said pulling a backpack strap over her shoulder. She turned and started walking towards the school.
"Wait! Hold up!" Kyle said running after her. She stopped and turned around. "Why go now? You already missed the first half-hour of class. No point in going now," he told her. She smiled with amusement.
"Well let's see... I'll still learn something from the rest of the class, I'll get my homework assignment and won't have to ask someone else what it is, and I'll still be marked as there."
"There, but tardy," Kyle said smiling. "Why not skip your first class all together?"
"I never skip my classes. The only way I skip them is if I'm out of town, have some kind of doc appointment, or if I'm sick."
"Well... Why not do something wild and skip this class? I mean, that's not exactly wild, but compared to your record I guess it would be... And plus, you kinda are sick. You didn't get enough sleep and you're looking a bit weak..."
Mika laughed. What he said was basically true. "You really want me to skip class don't you?"
"Just wanna spend more time with you..." he shrugged.
'How much sweeter could he get?!' she thought. "I'm sorry but I'm not skipping school all together." She paused and then smiled at him. "But I guess I can skip the rest of first period."
Kyle smiled widely. "Great! Wanna walk around for a bit? 'Cause you did say you need to take a walk and clear your head."
"That would be good," Mika replied. Kyle took her backpack off her shoulder and walked back to the car. He set her backpack inside and then extended his hand out, inviting her to start walking with him. She smiled, took his hand and began walking with him towards the road.
They decided they would walk to the park that was down the road, hangout there for awhile, and then head back to school.
At the park, Mika sat on one of the swings and made pictures in the sand with her shoes. Kyle laughed as he sat on the swing that was next to her.
"Like drawing in the sand huh?"
"It's fun," she replied as she finished drawing a funny face. "You draw one."
Kyle looked down at the sand and thought about it. He then began to draw something. Mika watched him draw away, a soft smile across her lips. She laughed when she saw what the picture was.
"Like my car picture?" Kyle asked. Mika laughed again.
"So typical... But yes, I like it."
"Typical? Typical?! You talking back to me, woman?!" Kyle said sternly, but was just kidding around. Mika laughed and rolled her eyes. "You did not just roll your eyes at me!" he said looking shocked. He suddenly got off the swing and picked her up over his shoulder. She screamed as he ran towards the grass that surrounded the sandy park and he set her down in the shade of a tree. She lied down and watched as Kyle sat down next to her and then he, too, lied down.
Kyle reached out his arm and Mika rested her neck on his arm as she scooted a bit closer to him. They lied there for a few minutes saying nothing. Just listening to everything going on around them.
Kyle then looked over at Mika. Her eyes were closed and her chest rose and fell peacefully with her steady breathing. 'She must really haven't been getting much sleep...' Kyle thought to himself. He then closed his eyes and began resting again himself.
Mika, thankfully had no nightmares during her morning nap. She woke up with Kyle's arms around her, holding her close to him, while he was asleep. She sighed with a smile and looked up at the tree. She then gently freed one of her arms and picked up a leaf that was on the ground beside her. It suddenly caught on fire and she watched as the fire began to eat up the leaf.
Maybe life wasn't that bad after all. Her family didn't seem like they cared much for her, and her sister obviously didn't, but it wasn't like they neglected her altogether. And not only was Mika a mutant herself, but she had pretty good control over her power. She only wished she could freely use it in public. They decided it was better if she kept her mutation a secret, as she would most likely have to deal with ridicule. Of course Mika knew her parents real reason for keeping it a secret. They were afraid others would look down on them for having a mutant child.
Adrea kept her mutation a secret altogether. Only Mika knew about it. Adrea feared her parents would look down on her and start treating her the way they treat Mika, something Adrea was deadly afraid of.
What made Mika's life seem so much better was Kyle. Kyle seemed to make all of her problems disappear when he was around, and he definitely was making her happier. Just lying there in his arms felt like the best thing in the world to her. She finally had someone who cared about her.
Once the leaf had fully turned to ash, Mika created a flame above her hand and began manipulating it, turning it into different shapes. Kyle suddenly stirred awake and opened his eyes and Mika immediately closed her hand, making the fire disappear.
He looked at her confused. "Were you just holding fire?" he asked.
"What?" Mika said raising an eyebrow and sounding as if she had no clue what he was talking about.
"There was fire on your hand..."
Mika laughed. "You must be seeing things Hun..." she told him. "How could I hold fire on my hand?"
Kyle shrugged and then turned over onto his back. Looking at his watch and sighing he said, "Gotta get back."
Mika sat up and looked down at him. "I think we should stay here all day," she said with a teasing smile.
"Hah... Well that would be great and I wanna say let's, but you said you gotta go to school and I don't want you to not learn something today," he said sitting up. "And besides... It's Wednesday of the second week of the month. I don't want you to get an F on Croaky's pop quiz."
"What?!" Mika said surprised. "We have a pop quiz?!"
"You guys haven't figured that out yet?" Kyle asked shocked. "Every Wednesday of the second week of the month he gives a pop quiz. I thought you knew that."
"Nuh uh... I'm surprised I didn't realize that though."
"Well... You better tell your friends about that." He stood up, offered his hand to her, and pulled her to her feet. They dusted the dirt and grass off their clothes and then headed back to school.
They reached the school halls before anyone got out of class. Kyle followed Mika to her locker and leaned against the locker next to hers. He looked inside as she put a few books inside.
"Lookin' for something to steal?" she asked with a smile.
"Just lookin' at how you decorated it. A person's locker tells a lot about them ya know," he answered.
"Oh really? What does my locker tell about me?"
Kyle took a closer look into her locker. "You like guitars, punk, emo, and alternative music, Pepsi, and... fire." He raised an eyebrow when he said fire, remembering that he thought he had seen Mika holding flames in her hand. "You don't look like that type of girl but that's perfectly fine. I'd say you're one unique young lady. That's what I really like about you." He pushed off of the locker and stood in front of her. He looked into her eyes as he slowly leaned down. Mika's eyes kept looking back and forth between his eyes and lips until he was just inches away from her. Mika closed her eyes and their lips softly touched. She looked at him again as he slowly pulled away, and liking it, their lips touched again. Mika brought her hands up to the nape of his neck and he wrapped one arm around her waist and brought his other hand up to her face. They kissed for several seconds before they were suddenly interrupted.
"Nuh uh! There will not be this type of conduct on school grounds!" a woman yelled from down the hall. They quickly pulled their lips away from each other's and looked to see one of the teachers rushing towards them. They let go of each other and apologized for their behavior.
"Why are you kids out in the hall anyway? You should still be in class," the teacher asked.
"Well Mika here wasn't feeling too well and then we had some car trouble on the way here. We just got here..." Kyle half lied. "We're very sorry we're late."
"Well go check into the office to let them know you're here," she instructed.
"We will Mrs. Giltan," Mika assured. Mika reached back into her locker, making it look like she was busy, and Kyle headed to his own locker. They watched Mrs. Giltan walk down the hall in the corner of their eye. Before she turned the corner to leave, she turned around and looked at them again. She then turned and left down the next hall.
Mika quickly shut and locked her locker, picked up her backpack, and went over to Kyle, whom immediately kissed her again. Of course, they were interrupted again, this time by the bell.
They quickly pulled away as students began rushing out of the classrooms. Mika licked her lips as she looked around at the rushing students. "We better check into the office..." she said turning down the hall. Kyle ran after her and took her hand.
On the way to the office, they passed Adrea. She angrily watched them walk by, hand-in-hand. 'You have no idea what you're getting yourself into...' Adrea's voice echoed in Mika's mind.
'Back off it Adrea. I'm sure you've got far better things to do than sulk around and be mad because I've got the guy and you don't,' Mika responded. When Adrea didn't reply to her, she said, 'Yeah... I thought so...'
Once they checked into the office, they split up and went their separate ways in the hall. Mika found some of her friends over by the drinking fountain. When they asked where she was that morning, she briefly explained what her and Kyle did, trying to leave the intimate details out. They weren't easily fooled however.
"You guys kissed didn't you?" her friend Ellie said raising an eyebrow. Trying not to blush, Mika denied it.
"You guys know I'm not really into that stuff... Especially after what happened with you know who..."
Her friends raised an eyebrow at her. "No one would refuse to kiss Kyle Viellis, including you," Ellie said. "And with the way he looks at you, we all know he wants you."
Mika's jaw dropped when Ellie said that. She then started laughing. "You're such a prep," she said playfully pushing Ellie.
"Oh... Look who's coming now..." their friend Nathan said raising an eyebrow. They all turned and saw Kyle coming towards them. "It's Loverboy..." Nathan said rolling his eyes.
Kyle walked over to Mika and took her hands. "You gonna eat with us today?" he asked her.
"Well I kinda wanted to eat with my friends but if you want me to sit with you, I can," she told him.
"Oh no that's fine. You can eat with your friends. I don't mind."
"You sure?"
"Yeah... I can just eat with you." He turned and looked at her friends. "That is... If it's ok with them."
"Oh that's fine!" Ellie quickly blurted out.
"Eh... Whatever..." Nathan said leaning against the wall.
"Well if you guys don't want me to, it's fine," Kyle replied with a shrug.
"No no no no. Just ignore Nathan. He woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Of course you can sit with us at lunch," Ellie said.
"Yeah Kyle. I'd love it if you would join us for lunch," Mika said turning Kyle's head towards her. He smiled.
"Alright." He put his hand under her chin and made her look up at him more and then kissed her. It was a soft and affectionate kiss that lasted ten seconds.
Ellie watched wide-eyed with surprise. She had not expected him to kiss Mika right then and there.
They pulled away from each other's lips and smiled. Kyle grabbed her hand as he turned to walk away and she turned with him.
"I'll see you later," he said.
"Bye."
Kyle began walking away and then let go of her hand when she wasn't in reach anymore. Mika turned back to her friends and smiled. She then noticed the strange look they were giving her.
"What?!" she asked confused.
Ellie smiled widely. "Something tells me things got more heated this morning than that kiss you just shared," she said. Mika laughed and pushed her.
"You think whatever you want. I'm not denying, nor am I admitting to anything. What goes on between him and I with stay between him and I only. Well... Unless he does something that I just can't keep to myself," Mika laughed. She leaned down and took a sip of water from the water fountain and turned back to her friends. "We better get to class guys... Before the bell..." Mika was suddenly cut off as the bell suddenly rang. "Rings..." Mika finished.
Ellie laughed. "See you guys next period," Ellie said heading off. Mika waved bye to her, said bye to Nathan, and then headed towards her next class.